Old Blog

Stanley Kubrick and the Phone

On the 7th, it’s a decade since Kubrick’s death, and so I wanted to spend this week tributing my favorite director, by leading up to the day with some small pieces from or about him. This first one comes from Michael Herr’s excellent ‘Kubrick’ book:

He viewed the telephone the way Mao viewed warfare, as the instrument of a protracted offensive where control of the ground was critical and timing crucial, while time itself was meaningless, except as something to be kept on your side. An hour was nothing, mere overture, or opening move, or gambit, a small taste of his virtuosity. The writer Gustav Hasford claimed that he and Stanley were once on the phone for seven hours, and I went over three with him many times. I’ve been hearing about all the people who say they talked to Stanley on the last day of his life, and however many there were, I believe them all.